Mashable blog by 13-year-old girl about Facebook provokes a Slating from irritated US journalist

In her blog – titled “I’m 13 and none of my friends use Facebook" - Karp said she was the only one of her group of friends who used Facebook and they were instead turning to alternatives such as Instagram, Vine and Snapchat. A day after Karp’s piece, the tech website published a counter piece by a 15 year old, titled: “I’m 15 and all my friends use Facebook”.

Karp’s piece was linked to an article featured on Mashable in May which showed figures from the Pew Research Centre had revealed that although it was by far still the most popular social network for teens, a “waning enthusiasm for Facebook” was emerging among the 12-17 year-old age group.

In his retort to Karp’s piece, Oremus said: “When it comes to social networks, the ascendant paradigm for forecasting the future seems to centre on first-person anecdotes and unsupported hearsay from random teenagers.”

Oremus went on to point out contradictions in the 13-year-old’s claims that her friends don’t use the social network after she spoke of embarrassment at her parents and their friends being able to see pictures she might have been tagged in, and then described an email interview with her in which he questioned the credibility of her blog.

“When I asked Karp via email about the apparent contradiction, she told me the kids getting in trouble on the site are mostly older kids, while those in her age group don’t use it at all. I’m not fully convinced—I suspect Karp has a lot more friends on Facebook than she realizes, given a recent Pew study that found it remains by far the most popular social network among teens, even as others are gaining some ground," he wrote.

He went on to cite Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s claim that the company’s internal data showed no indication the site is losing teens, but admitted Facebook has so far failed to produce evidence for the claim.

Speaking to The Drum, Oremus said he was aware his piece may raise some eyebrows and insisted he wasn’t trying to “bash” Karp.

“I recognised from the start that some people would object to a blog post criticising the work of a 13 year old,” he said. “But the fact is that her post was highly influential: Not only was it published as an op-ed on Mashable, but tech blogs and news outlets around the world linked to is and reacted to it.

“That’s a credit to Karp’s strong writing and shrewd framing of a timely topic. But to ignore the flaws in her argument simply because of her age would be an insult to her intelligence and, I think, a form of discrimination.

He added that Mashable should have done more to help guide Karp with the blog: “I think a good editor would have helped Karp refine her argument to avoid the apparent contradictions.

“Karp told me herself that she wishes in retrospect that she had worded it a little more clearly. I think Mashable owed it to Karp to help her make her case as cogently as possible.”

The Drum contacted Mashable and was still awaiting a response at time of publication.